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I slide my eyes away to find Te staring at us. When I look back at Bennet, he’s got his eyes on Te too. Will he say something about what happened? Worse, will he try to pretend nothing happened? What am I going to do either way? Will Te be madthat something happened between me and her brother? Can she already tell without us saying anything?
What he does isn’t expected. “It’s late now, sweetheart.” He leans forward and surprises me by brushing a soft kiss over my mouth before pulling back, “Go to the first room on the right and get some sleep. I’ll be back. Rest.”
He turns and walks to the door before looking back, “Te, lock up.”
They both nod to one another and then he’s gone.
“Is it my imagination or did my brother just kiss you?”
Oh, shit!
“Um, it wasn’t really a kiss kiss. It was more because of what happened and…”
“It seemed like a real kiss kiss.”
“He just felt bad for me. You know how…protective he is.”
“Was he the one who found you?” She pulls me over to the couch and both of us sit down. “Ben just told me the bare facts and didn’t really go into detail.”
“He was the one who saved me! He came in like he did when we were having our girls’ weekend,”
“I thought you started locking the door?”
“I did.” She gives me a perplexed look that matches the way I feel inside. “I have no idea how that man got into my house but when Bennet came in, he said the door was unlocked and not kicked in.”
“Thank God Ben came when he did.”
“He was pretty great. He knocked the guy off me and chased him through the house until the guy flung himself through the window on the landing.”
“The stained glass one?”
“Yeah.” Admitting it makes me sad. That window was original to the house. It was over a hundred years old. And now, it’s gone. Broken to pieces by some moron who was trying to escape.
Even though I try to hide it, I can tell Te realizes how badly it affects me. She scoots closer to me and rubs her hand up and down my back.
“We can have it fixed. I’m sure Ben will pick up all the pieces and we can fix it for you.”
“I'm not even sure if I can stay there after this. Will I ever be safe? What happens if this guy tries to come back?”
Silent tears start to fall as the weight of what has happened tonight hits me. My dream of starting a family is gone, my safe place destroyed by one incident. And if I don’t have a place to live, I don’t have the ability to stay here.
I'm not sure how long I sit crying on Te but she offers me nothing but comfort and support. She eventually leads me to the room Bennet told me I could use and helps me change into a nightgown before sticking me in the bed. She promises to wake me up as soon as Bennet gets back so we can try to figure out what the hell is going on. I’m so emotionally drained and so miserable that sleep sounds like a good way to escape for a little while. Maybe if I sleep enough, I can pretend all of this isnothing more than a nightmare, and when I wake up things will be different somehow.
Maybe if I just keep pretending…
Chapter Sixteen
Bennet
I get home late after spending a good part of the night talking to my Captain and my partner and going over every available blueprint and former owner we could find. Hell, I have Tanner going over old newspapers so we can find out all we can about what has gone on in that house from the day it was built.
After I made sure the house was locked up tight, I finally made my way home. To Rory. And isn’t that a nice change. Having someone to come home to, someone who needs me and is waiting for me in my bed. I open the door to find my sister sitting on the couch still watching TV.
“We have to talk.”
Yeah, I figured that was coming since I kissed Rory in front of her.
“What would you like to talk about first?”
